


Flowers and Blood

by UrsaeMinoris



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkwardness, Blood, Dubious Science, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Getting Together, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) Whump, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Voltron: Legendary Defender Season/Series 08 Compliant, Pining Keith (Voltron), Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25162846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UrsaeMinoris/pseuds/UrsaeMinoris
Summary: After freeing the Earth from Sendak’s domination, Team Voltron is traveling on board of the Atlas, consolidating the Coalition against the scattered forces of the declining Galra Empire. When they landed on the planet of Treah, their only objective was to sign an alliance. But things took an unexpected turn when Keith contracted a local illness… a deadly one.----Keith was about to snap that he was fine, but as soon as he opened his mouth, another coughing fit started. This one was so much worse; his whole body was in pain with each cough, muscles contracting in spasms, liquid fire combusting his lungs and clogging his windpipe. His sight blurred with tears, so it took him a while to notice. Maybe the way Lance had gone strangely silent tipped him off.He blinked away the tears and focused his sight, taking sharp breaths that reaped his insides - and finally saw the red petals littering the white floor.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 103





	1. Sowing the Seeds

**Author's Note:**

> Notes : This fic was in my wips for a long while, and in my mind for even longer. It’s a truly self- indulgent one, and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it!  
> A big thank-you to [allrealities](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allrealities) for the beta-reading!

The negotiations weren’t going well.

To be honest, they weren’t going at all. Team Voltron had been waiting in the Treah conference room for nearly a varga, and no one had joined them.

Finally, the heavy double door opened, and a tall Treah with lavender skin, wearing a colorful attire, entered. He bowed towards Allura, with a graceful gesture of the hands and a flourish of his antennae.

“I am Tal-hio, the Court Scribe. The ambassador can’t be here.” The slander alien explained. “She is very sick. She nominated me to replace her for the meeting”.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Allura replied, sympathetic. “Tell her we wish her well.”

Tal-hio nodded. “She has asked for her childhood friend, Myn-lea. Let’s pray your good wishes bring her luck. Only if her love is returned, will she live.”

“Wait, what?!” Lance blurted. Pidge kicked him under the table. Coran had told them the Treah people cared a lot about protocol.

Thankfully, Tal-hio didn’t seem offended. He focused his startlingly luminescent teal eyes on Lance instead. “Is something troubling you, Blue Paladin?”

“Hu yeah! How exactly will love cure her? That sounds awesome but….”

Pidge shoved up their glasses. “What Lance means is… the sicknesses we know of are usually caused by bacteria or viruses. Or sometimes by the malfunctioning of our own bodies. I don’t see how love could have an influence, at least for our species,” they explained, eyeing Allura and Coran, waiting to be corrected.

“Well, as far as my medical knowledge goes, this is true for Alteans too,” Coran admitted.

Tal-hio let out a melodic hum, as if reflecting. “Hanahaki is a local disease caused by an imbalance in someone’s romantic feelings. While it usually affects Treah people, it has been seen in visitors from other planets as well. If an infected person has feelings for someone, and they hide this yearning in fear of it being unrequited… Then the Hanahaki finds a fertile compost in their torments, and blooms inside their lungs.” The scribe paused, taking in their various expressions of horror. “The symptoms are unmistakable: the patient starts coughing up red petals. At that stage, it is already irreversible, unless the love imbalance is fixed. For this, the sick person has to declare their love. Only if the feelings are returned, will they heal. If their love is unrequited, even if the object of their affections tries to fake their feelings, the flowers grow, and the patient dies within a few days.”

There was a short silence while everyone digested this information.

Allura cleared her throat. “Well, we renew our wishes of wellness. This sounds concerning.”

Tal-hio inclined his head gravely. “This is appreciated. Let’s all hope that the flows of love get balanced.”

\---

Keith entered the Atlas’ training deck. He desperately needed to let off some steam.

Team Voltron and the Atlas’ crew had been on the planet for three quintants already, and it was a diplomatic mess. The negotiations had been infuriating. The Treah had all kinds of protocols, which seemed to Keith like nothing more than beating around the bush. And Tal-hio kept getting off on tangents all the time. Coran had explained that the scribe might be stalling because he didn’t have the authority to make these decisions, instead acting as a spokesperson. The ambassador’s illness might be a reason why the negotiations got delayed.

To top it all off, they had only learned that day that the planetary council they were working with was not recognized by all the nations of this world. Allura was still confident that they would get the planet on board with the Coalition, but even she was growing impatient.

Keith let out a sigh. His entire body was stiff from pent-up frustration - diplomacy was not his strongest skill. The headache and scratchy throat he had woken up with didn’t help. He nodded towards Lance, who was working on his target shooting skills with the little training drones. His teammate greeted him back.

Keith warmed up, groaning at how tense his muscles were. That’s when he started coughing. Nothing too bad at first, aside from Lance noticing.

“Did you catch a cold, Mullet?” he asked without interrupting his exercise.

“I guess,” Keith replied. He called for the Gladiator - Coran had saved some of the training facilities from the Castle, and Keith was thankful for it. He chose level 8 as usual, but this time, something was off. He was out of breath after only a few minutes. This should have been _easy_... but he was already defending more than attacking. Parrying at the last second, where he usually could counterattack. His breathing was labored, his movements sluggish. The air around him seemed as thick as mud, slowing him down.

Keith grunted, trying to pull himself together; he landed a blow on the machine. The robot swung back, and Keith took the hit on the side of his head. His vision blurred; he ducked and rolled to the ground just in time to avoid the second hit.

Getting up, he couldn’t catch his breath, as if something was stuck in his throat. He coughed again, painfully, sharp glass in his lungs. Another blow to the head had him seeing stars, and he fell to his knees.

“End training sequence!”

Keith closed his eyes; Lance’s voice could be piercing and he already had a headache. He was wheezing. Every breath he drew hurt, and his chest felt like it was about to implode.

He heard more than he saw Lance kneel at his side. He winced at the hand on his back.

“Keith? Buddy?”

Keith was about to snap that he was fine, but as soon as he opened his mouth, another coughing fit started. This one was so much worse; his whole body was in pain with each cough, muscles contracting in spasms, liquid fire combusting his lungs and clogging his windpipe. His sight blurred with tears, so it took him a while to notice. Maybe the way Lance had gone strangely silent tipped him off.

He blinked away the tears and focused his sight, taking sharp breaths that reaped his insides - and finally saw the red petals littering the white floor.

Shit.

“Huh, Keith, that… that looks like that weird love sickness the scribe was talking about.”

“It’s nothing,” Keith rasped.

“What?! No, that’s clearly NOT nothing! It’s DEADLY, you idiot!”

Keith wanted to snap back, but all he managed was a new coughing fit.

“Who is it? Quick!” asked Lance, “Is it Allura?”

He seemed almost more panicked by this thought than by Keith’s situation.

“No...”

Lance squinted. “Romelle?”

“ _Lance...”_ Keith groaned, “...not a guessing game...”

He coughed hard, spitting out more petals; a few drops of blood splattered on the white floor in the midst of the floral debris.

“Shit. I’m taking you to the med bay.” Lance gripped his upper arm, and pulled him up. He helped him stand, wrapped Keith’s arm around his shoulders, and walked them both towards the infirmary.

Keith kept tripping over his own feet, to the point that they had to stop twice because of coughing fits that shook his entire body. At this point he felt pathetic; he realized with a dreadful sense of clarity that these might be his last moments. If the only cure was to be loved back… he was doomed. Shiro cared for him, of course, but not _like that_. The Voltron Team could probably move on without him. Maybe they could have Shiro go back to pilot Black, Keith knew they missed each other. But then, who would pilot the Atlas?

The coughs worsened and bent him in half. More petals fell to the ground, while Lance did his best to keep him upright. The hand Keith had used to cover his mouth was dripping with blood.

“Hunk!” Lance shrieked. Keith moaned, his teammate’s voice echoing painfully in his skull. Hasted footsteps. Hunk’s voice. “What? What’s going on? Keith?! Is he hurt?”

“Hunk, you need to bring him to the med bay! I think it’s that love disease the ambassador has!”

“What? No, no, no! He can’t...”

“ _Hunk!_ ”

“S-sorry. I’m taking him.”

“Thanks! I’m getting Allura and Coran!”

Keith felt himself being passed from Lance to Hunk. He heard Lance immediately sprint away, chattering on his phone. At this point, his breathing was so labored that he was dizzy and light-headed. He didn’t expect Hunk to simply pick him up and carry him, but he was too weak to protest. When he finally caught his breath somewhat, he looked up. Hunk’s brows were drawn in a worried frown and his jaw was clenched in a determined set. Guilt welled in Keith’s stomach as he recognized that expression. It was the same one Hunk had when he protected civilians from the Galra soldiers. But he couldn’t protect Keith from his own stupid feelings.

“Hunk, I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

Keith was at a loss about what to answer… not that he could have, as he was too busy hacking up bloodstained petals again. Hunk’s eyes widened, and a small whimper escaped his throat as he accelerated his pace.

The rest of the trip was silent, except for Keith’s pained respiration.


	2. Coming out in Bloom

The med bay was dark and silent, the lights coming on as they entered. The Atlas had a team of medics who crowded the place during and after battles, but in this moment of peace, no one was there. Hunk carefully laid Keith on one of the slabs, then slammed the big red emergency button to call for medical help.

Keith groaned. He would have preferred things to stay quiet. He curled on his side, searching for a comfortable position, but his whole body ached, and the coughs just kept getting worse. He was exhausted, and all he wanted was to sleep to distract himself from the pain. Not that sleeping was an option, with the constant coughing, plus the petals kept getting clogged in his throat, and were excruciating to expel. They left a bitter taste in his mouth that made him nauseous on top of it all.

Someone gently patted his arm to get his attention. He blearily opened his eyes, and Hunk helped him clean the blood away from his hands, then gave him a metal bucket. Keith grabbed it, trying his best to spit the petals in it.

He was wheezing and could never get enough air in his lungs; it felt like drowning.

There was noise again, voices and footsteps, and agitated discussions. Keith didn’t have the energy to focus on it.

Someone crouched next to him... and suddenly he was facing Shiro. Shiro laid his hand on Keith’s shoulder, and despite everything, it still somehow comforted him; he even managed a weak smile. Shiro nodded, but his expression stayed concerned.

“Keith. Coran and Allura are meeting right now with a team of Treah healers to get you help. It’s going to be ok.”

It was so unfair, that Shiro was there by his side... that Shiro loved and cared for him so much, but could never love Keith the way he selfishly wanted… and that it would have been the only way to save him.

It was so unfair, that if Shiro realized he was the one that Keith pined for, he would blame himself for not loving him back. For not being able to save him from that weird illness.

It was so unfair, that Shiro was there, so close, and so far away at the same time.

A lump in his throat made breathing even harder. He thought he was about to cry, but choked and hawked until he spat out an entire flower, drenched in blood. Shiro gasped in shock.

“Keith, tell me who it is.”

Keith sighed. Which somehow ended in him spewing more bloody petals.

“Keith, _please!_ It’s the only way!”

“Doesn’t matter, if it’s unrequited.”

“You don’t know that.”

Keith tried to laugh, but it was more of a wheeze. Shiro looked so distressed that Keith wanted to push him away. To find some excuse to send him somewhere else. He didn’t have to witness this.

“Is it Hunk?”

Keith looked at Shiro in disbelief. No way he was so dense. “What?” replied the Captain of the Atlas, his cheeks reddening from embarrassment, “you seem pretty close.”

“Shiro...” Keith protested. Then, a sudden doubt surfaced in his mind.

“Wait. You told me...” A coughing fit.

Shiro’s hand rubbing his back. (“Keith?”).

“The clone’s memories… you remember… our fight? Right?”

Shiro’s eyes opened wide with shock, then he quickly ducked his head, as if to hide the regret and sadness in his face. The expression shift was painful to see. Keith reached out to Shiro instinctively, wanting to stroke his cheek, but Shiro caught his hand and held it.

“Yes, I remember…”

“Remember… what I told you?”

“That you loved me… like a brother.”

Keith closed his eyes, not because of the physical pain. If he didn’t know for certain that Shiro would never be so cruel, he would wonder if he was toying with him.

“That’s not...” he said with a sigh resulting in new rain of petals dropping into the bucket, “not what I meant, and you know it.”

There was a stunned silence. Keith forgot to breathe entirely. He should have kept quiet. Now Shiro was going to try to lie to save him. It would hurt even more, and it would be useless.

But Shiro didn’t say anything at all. He was staring at Keith, bewildered. One of the medics gave him a pouch of water with instructions Keith couldn’t hear, drowned out by another coughing fit. As soon as his coughs quieted down, Shiro pushed the straw in his mouth and pressed the pouch, whispering, telling him to drink. He tried, but ended up choking on it instead. Shiro hastily took the pouch away. Keith bent over the bucket, spewing out plant debris and most of the water he hadn’t had a chance to swallow. Every cough felt like it was scraping his lungs raw. He was almost surprised that he wasn’t spitting out more blood.

It took him a while to be able to breathe properly. The medics were too damn close, talking with agitated gestures, and Keith was annoyed that they had disturbed their conversation.

He exchanged a look with Shiro, still awkwardly holding the water pouch. His cheeks were a little red, and Keith felt guilty for just dropping his confession on him like that. “Can’t believe you took the brother thing like that...” he grumbled, before being interrupted by the medics again, who put him on a drip.

In a blink, Kosmo was there, licking at Keith’s fingers. Keith looked up, confused. Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Romelle all stood around, watching him anxiously. They must have just arrived. Keith should have been happy to see them, but… in that moment, he wished he could be alone with Shiro.

“Keith, I... You... really?”

Keith bit his lower lip. He was now aware of their audience, and he hated it.

“You think I… of course I meant it!” he sighed, or tried to. “Not really like a brother.”

He was too flustered to look at Shiro, so he contemplated the disgusting contents of the bucket. Petals sounded cool when the scribe had explained it, but the reality of it was a mass of red flower parts drenched in blood and mucus…. forming a sort of gory mass, congealing at the bottom of the bucket.

Shiro’s left hand brushed against Keith’s cheek, gently tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Keith looked up, locking eyes with him.

“I love you too, Keith.” Shiro’s voice was shaking.

Keith almost lashed out, told him lying wouldn’t work, but he reined himself in: Shiro sounded _way too sincere_. He swallowed down his protestations, trying to process what was happening. He blinked back tears. “What?”

Noticing Keith’s distress, Kosmo pushed against his hand with his snout. Keith absentmindedly petted his head.

Shiro repeated himself, everything about him serious. “I love you.” He kept his voice low, as if he hoped the buzz of the medics’ conversations would cover it, but it was intent enough for Keith to hear it clearly.

Keith knew he should answer with something, but he was still trying to figure this out. His mind was foggy, his chest hurt, and each respiration was like dying... Shiro had said… what?

Shiro, who was actually moving closer, so close that he could feel his breath on his lips... Shiro, whose hand was palming his neck... Shiro, who… kissed him? Just a short peck, like a question mark... and Shiro’s soft gaze, a tad anxious… Keith blinked once, twice, but it wasn’t a dream... so he raised his arms, resting them on Shiro’s shoulders, slowly kissing him back. His breath must have been terrible, but Shiro leaned into it...

“Paladins! Stop this! What are you doing?!”

Coran’s voice?

They pulled back from each other immediately. Keith felt his ears burning, as he remembered they were in a room full of people. Coran stood at the door, accompanied by a Treah wearing blue toga-like garments. Maybe kissing was weird to Alteans?

There was a moment of confusion as everyone stared at the new arrivals.

“But… isn’t it supposed to cure him?” Lance asked.

Coran strode to Keith and Shiro, pushing past the medics, who hadn’t been able to do much so far anyway.

“Of course not! Now you’ve caught it too, Shiro! It’s contagious! Whatever did you think?!”

“Wh… what? But….” Shiro stammered. Keith had rarely seen him so confused. To be frank, Keith was just as lost himself.

“I don’t get it!” Lance cried. “The scribe said the only cure was reciprocated love?!”

The Treah let out a melodic sound, which seemed to be her way of sighing. “Tal-hio is the Court Scribe. A poet. He told you the traditional tale, not the medical facts.”

Coran was twirling his moustache proudly. “See, what Nes-ru means, is that Tal-hio’s tale actually works for Treah. In a way. The Hanahaki is a parasitic plant that grows in someone’s lungs. But the Treahs’ hormone for happiness is toxic to it. So if a Treah is very happy... for example, if they learned that their romantic feelings are returned, then their metabolism poisons the plant! And so, they have the time to build up antibodies, and their bodies can reject the parasite entirely!”

While Coran was going on and on, Nes-ru approached Keith. She exchanged a few words with the medics. She checked on his readings, then used a data pad of her own on him. She hummed, sounding rather displeased.

“Soooo Tal-hio wasn’t wrong then.” Hunk replied. “Then why wouldn’t it work for Keith?”

“Ha, well, any rush of happy hormones would do the trick! But Treah are romantic, so their folklore focused on that option. There are old tales from times before the Treah understood the biological mechanism! Very poetic!” Coran continued. Seeing the paladins’ skeptical and frustrated expressions, he put a finger up, as if he was teaching a lesson… or filming yet another educational video, “BUT! It doesn’t work for other species! While a lot of people from other worlds can be infected, only the Treah can secrete the hormone efficient against the Hanahaki!”

Nes-ru, who was dutifully scowling at the contents of the bucket, added, “And only in the early stages. This is quite advanced. Luckily, I brought a synthetic solution that should help.”

“But the symptoms only started today!” Shiro protested. He’d taken Keith’s dangling hand, squeezing it a bit too hard.

“The incubation period...” wondered one of the medics.

Nes-ru agreed. “Exactly. You must have gotten infected on your first visit to the Court. Five days ago, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yes!” confirmed Hunk. “Three quintants, or five of your local days.”

“The sickness typically progresses faster in aliens than in people of Treah,” she said. She approached a weird metallic stick to his arm, and Keith only understood it was a syringe when a sharp tip came out and pricked him. The healer then pressed a button, completing the injection.

“This will hurt, Paladin, but with the Altean technology, you should recover.”

“I am afraid you will need to expel the parasite completely before we can help you, Keith,” Allura added, sounding concerned. “But the pod will heal any internal damage. My magic should keep you alive until then.”

Keith shuddered. That didn’t sound very encouraging; Shiro squeezing his hand grounded him.

  
  
\---

The next hours were a painful blur. The cough worsened, white leaves and stems joined the petals in the bucket.

This somehow spurred an exchange between Pidge and Hunk about the logical lack of chlorophyll for a parasitic plant.

Keith was too busy ejecting all that plant matter to notice anything else; Shiro stayed by his side the whole time. Keith attempted to tell him that he didn’t need to, but he could barely speak.

The medics had to use pliers a few times to get out some of the matter stuck in his throat. Then he’d get an oxygen mask pressed to his face a few instants - just enough for him to recover a bit before the coughing resumed.

Shiro kept fussing around him, and Keith kept patting his arm to reassure him (it didn’t work.)

Kosmo lay near the bed, lifting his head and whining when Keith was having a hard time.

At some point, Allura sat next to Shiro, handing him a cup of something warm. She gave them reassuring news; the medicine was working, and the healing pod would handle the rest. Keith had a strong body and was doing very well under the circumstances. Twice, she returned to use her alchemic abilities to pour quintessence into Keith, to keep up his strength.

  
  


Shiro had gotten a shot as well, and he seemed a bit out of it (at least he didn’t need to expel a whole grown plant like Keith did). Keith noticed his pale skin, flushed cheeks and damp hands, so he tried to convince Shiro to get some rest. He stubbornly refused, and not even Keith could convince him to lay down on the bunk next to his. In the end, when Keith was barely clinging to consciousness... when his coughs were hardly bringing anything out anymore... Shiro finally agreed to share his bunk, wrapping himself around Keith as if he was trying to protect him. The bunk was too small for two people, especially when one of them was as big as Shiro, but somehow they managed to curl up in a way that they both fit.

The medics who came to check on them looked surprised to see them like that, though they didn’t comment. They checked their readings on their Altean holoscreens, spoke to each other in hushed voices, and left. They returned not long after, this time with Allura and Coran, pushing an antigrav chair.

“Keith,” Allura said kindly, “you should be free of the parasite, now. We’re taking you to the pods.”

“’kay”, was all Keith could answer. His voice was so rough, he wasn’t sure they heard anything else than a grunt. He struggled to push himself up, but his arms shook and barely supported him.

Meanwhile, Shiro woke and mumbled, “ah, good.” He got up and, before Keith could react, gathered him in his arms. Coran opened his mouth, but Allura put her hand on his arm, and, surprisingly, he stayed silent.

\---

Keith let his head fall against Shiro’s chest. Being this close to Shiro felt... safe. He was in such a weak state that he let himself enjoy it. Everything hurt, but Shiro was warm and smelled like home. He closed his eyes and drifted off, lulled by the rhythm of Shiro’s steps.

He woke up, startled, at the feeling of someone trying to pull him out of Shiro’s embrace. He tensed and held onto him tightly, letting out a faint whimper. There was a buzz of voices around them, Allura and Coran speaking over each other, and Shiro, softly murmuring, “Keith.” Opening his eyes, he could see that it was Shiro, trying to get him to stand in a healing pod with Allura’s help. Keith was accustomed to the pods, and usually didn’t mind them, but a weird sense of dread washed over him.

He didn’t want to let go of Shiro. He didn’t want to be alone in the cold pod. He locked eyes with Shiro, whose expression turned to distress.

“Shiro. _Shiro,_ ” came Allura’s voice again. Keith had a hard time focusing. Shiro blinked, and tore his gaze away from Keith to make eye contact with Allura.

“He’s going to be alright, but we need him in the healing pod!” she urged.

Shiro sighed and pulled Keith in an embrace, then let go of him. Keith managed to not cling to him this time.

“I’m staying here,” Shiro promised, once Keith could stand on his own. His voice was strained, but it might have been from the coughing and medicine.

“You will be alright, Keith,” Allura assured them.

Keith nodded, embarrassed by his helpless reaction. Allura smiled and patted his shoulder, before moving back so the healing pod door could close. There was a cold sensation, and then only darkness.

\---

Keith opened his eyes, feeling groggy and disoriented, surprised to find himself standing. He could see the med bay through some sort of glass panel. All the paladins were there, waiting for him. Shiro stood in front of them all, a worried smile on his face. He understood then, that he was still in the cryopod. The front panel dematerialized, sending him toppling forward out of the pod - and into Shiro’s waiting arms. Shiro held him close until Keith found his footing; but he still didn’t let go once Keith had regained his balance, so Keith gave in and wrapped his own arms around him. They stood there, comforted by each other’s closeness, until Lance cleared his throat in a rather obnoxious way.

Shiro slowly loosened his embrace, and Keith took a step back. Shiro’s cheeks were a little red, and his shy smile made Keith’s heart overflow with fondness. He couldn’t blame Shiro for being flustered; he was sure he was quite red himself.

He turned to Allura, who smiled and joined her hands. “You should be safe now, Keith. All remnants of the parasite are gone, and you are fully healed from the damage.”

Shiro exhaled a relieved sigh.

Coran handed Keith a water pouch: “You will need to drink plenty of water, my boy! The hanahaki plant was draining you of your fluids. We restored most of it, but you will need to be careful for the next ten quintants.”

Keith obediently took a sip.

“Also, like, we’re back in space?” added Lance. “The Treah finally accepted our treaty. Allura was amazing at convincing them.”

Allura chuckled. “I think they felt a little bad for Keith almost dying, and Shiro being infected. It wasn’t really their fault but...” She shrugged. “It helped our cause.”

Pidge chimed in, “Also, the Ambassador is healed! The traditional way! Her childhood friend did love her back!”

“They were so happy!” exclaimed Romelle. “I do hope we meet them again!”

Hunk clapped his hands. “So, uh, I also made you some food, Keith. That Galra gratin you like so much. If you want. You should eat, you know?”

Keith smiled. He was starving, indeed.

As Hunk led the team towards the common room, Shiro and Keith walked side by side at the back of the group. Keith’s mind was racing. He wasn’t sure if he remembered correctly: they did confess their love to each other, right? They did kiss? It wasn’t a weird dream during the pod-induced coma, was it? Was it Shiro reacting in the desperation of the moment? Did he still want it now? His throat was tight from doubts and worries.

Their hands brushed, and his heart beat faster. He had learned to keep his calm in life-threatening situations, he had saved Shiro from mind control, and even brought him back from death, but this - this was too much.

Shiro’s hand brushed against his again. His intake of breath was too loud, almost a gasp, as Shiro tentatively, almost shyly, took his hand and held it. Keith squeezed Shiro’s hand in his, thankful. He looked up at Shiro and smiled, reassured. Shiro smiled back down at him, and said: “It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back.”

They stopped, falling behind, and shared a long kiss. To Keith, it was as if his whole universe fell into place; a promise that despite everything, things could be good after all.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Share your thoughts with me here in the comments! I love comments, long or short, constructed or not!
> 
> Find me on twitter at <https://twitter.com/UrsaeMinoris2>, on Pillowfort at <https://www.pillowfort.social/ursaeminoris> or on tumblr at [https://ursae-minoris-world.tumblr.com/](https://www.pillowfort.social/ursaeminoris)


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